A New Beginning in Christ

By Peter Outar

Whether you are a new believer in Christ or serving the Lord for years this book will take you back to the fundamentals of the Christian faith - the finished work of Christ at the Cross. Ideal for small groups in homes or churches, personal study, or just family Bible studies these lessons are detailed, easy to read in everyday language and well supported with scripture. Throughout the book, salvation and the practical, everyday walk of the believer in Christ is stressed in topics such as: • The Gospel, the meaning of salvation • The Bible • God, the Trinity • Jesus Christ • The Holy Spirit • Prayer • The Power to Live Holy • Dealing with Temptation • Church Ordinances • Filled with the Spirit • Handling Finances • The Church and Ministry • Sharing Your Faith • The Basics of Bible Prophecy, an outline Daily homework questions for each chapter will motivate the reader to deeper study and application of the Bible to life situations. Use these homework questions as a basis for small group study and sharing with each other. One lesson per week and you will be "rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding with it in thanksgiving". (Colossians 2:7) WWW.ANEWBEGINNINGINCHRIST.COM

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635255300

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A New Beginning

in Christ

Peter Outar

ISBN 978-1-63525-529-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63525-530-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Peter Outar

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenuet

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to my wife Shirley, a woman of grace

Acknowledgment

With grateful thanks to my dad Edward and my late mom Cynthia for all you’ve done for me. The picture of you dad, standing at the door praying every day before going to work and kneeling in prayer at bedtime during my early childhood is still vivid in my mind as is the fragrance and laughter of mom.

With grateful thanks to my sister Diane for all you have done, especially for taking me to church as a child.

To my mother in law Miriam and so many other family members, thank you for your love, prayers and support.

To the wonderful congregation of New Beginnings Church of Astoria who have helped hold up our hands in service, prayed for us and supported us. I am truly blessed and honored to be your Pastor.

Peter Outar

Preface

It is exciting to think about a new beginning, a fresh start. A chance to avoid the mistakes we made, the failures we encountered, the pain we experienced, and the emotional scars that we carry from the battles we’ve waged in life. While we cannot re-enter the womb and start our lives all over again, we can have a new beginning, and that new beginning in life comes when we are in Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new".

My friend, at the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross He took your sins and gave you His goodness or righteousness. He offers you eternal life, a life which begins now. If you believe on the redemptive work of Christ and accept His gift of eternal life, you will have peace with God and the chance at a new life in Christ. He is well able to rectify the effects of your past life, address the reason for your short comings in life (sin) and direct your life and future.

This workbook is geared toward both the mature Christian and the new believer, grounding them in the Bible not just on religious topics but on a variety of every day topics such as handling temptation, finances, sharing your faith, sin, holiness, and others. It is my prayer that as you go through the thought provoking questions at the end of each chapter that you will become grounded in the Word, and God will begin to do a new thing in you, to set you free from the frustration of trying to live holy by your own fleshly efforts and leading you to a reliance in life in the Spirit. I pray that you will find release from the old habits and addictions and begin to walk holy with Christ, empowered by the Spirit.

Let this truly be a new beginning in Christ for you.

Peter Outar

Lesson 1:

The Gospel (Good News)

The word gospel means good news. So what exactly is this good news that we are referring to? It has to do with our relationship with God. First, let’s understand who we are apart from God so we can appreciate the good news.

We Are Sinners, Separated from God

The Bible teaches that we are sinners, separated from God, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

What is sin? Sin is anything that God finds unacceptable (i.e., lying, stealing, adultery, pride, placing things or people above God, and more). Basically, anything that displeases God, and we can get an idea of what displeases or pleases God by reviewing the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. If you are honest, you will find we have all displeased God or failed to do what pleases Him. These sins separate us from God because He is holy and cannot look on or tolerate these things.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2).

This separation from God shows up in the way you feel—the lack of peace, your anger, depression, anxiety, and so on. Yes, we are sinners, and the load the sinner carries is heavy, and no doubt you have tried to address the way you feel in a variety of ways, only to find nothing works. We try to fill this feeling of emptiness by substituting—for example, relationships, career, success, money, materialism, illicit sexual relationships, drugs, and so on.

But the emptiness and feeling away from God persists. And that is because you have not dealt with the root cause—SIN in your life.

The Penalty for Sin Is Death

The Bible says in Romans 6:23,

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

This penalty of death is not just a physical one,which will happen ultimately, but a spiritual death. We are separated from a loving God.

We do not have fellowship or relationship with God when we are in sin. This separation is eternal, unless we are reconciled to God. Think about it, you are separate and apart from the One who created you, knows your purpose for being here, and holds in His hands the keys to your life. He knows every path you should take, who you should marry, your career, what He has called you to do in His kingdom, and so on. But you are separated from Him by your sin, thus you can never know these things.

Furthermore, your good works, as well intentioned and wonderful as they may be, cannot save you from this penalty of death either. The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6,

But we are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousness [goodness] are like filthy rags.

So the Word of God says that our righteousness (goodness) is as filthy rags before God and thus cannot save us from our sins. Think about that for a moment, because if you were to ask someone who does not know Christ why they think they are saved or are going to heaven, most of the responses would be because I’m a good person, or I’ve got a good heart, or I do more good than bad. Unfortunately people’s faith is in their works and not in the finished work of Christ at the Cross. Yet your good works cannot save you from the penalty of your sin, which is separation from God (death).

So here we are, sinners in misery, separated from God and deserving of death. So what happens to us now? Are we without hope? Are we condemned to hell for eternity? Fortunately, there is hope. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:1,

And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

God Loves You and Paid the Penalty for Your Sin

Romans 5:8 says,

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Imagine that! So great was God’s love for you that He came to pay that penalty for your sin—death! Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins and that you may have eternal life!

God looked down upon you, knew you, and loved you. Did you know that before you were in the womb, God knew you? Jeremiah 1:5.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

Before you were born I sanctified [a] you;

I [b] ordained you a prophet to the nations."

Did you know that He loved you? John 3:16 says,

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

But had Christ just died, He would become just another one added to the list of good teachers, prophets, etc. Christ was more than that. He proved this when He rose from the dead. His resurrection is what separates Him from others and proves that He was God in the flesh, who paid for our sins, rose from the dead, and is alive to pave the way for us to have eternal life with Him.

God is ready to forgive your sin. Your sins have been paid for, every one of them—past, present, and future—but there is something you must do, not to earn your salvation, but to receive it.

The Gift of Eternal Life

Eternal life, the payment for your sins, your freedom from sin, and so on is all free! The fact is, you can never earn it by good works. So how do you receive it? It is a gift from God, and all you need do is to receive that gift. Receive Christ by faith in Him, believe that His death paid for your sins and that He rose from the dead to give you new life.

So admit you are a sinner, that you have done wrong and broken God’s laws. Then ask God to forgive you for your sins, to come into your heart and into your life. Tell the Lord Jesus you receive Him as Lord and Savior and that you turn away (repent) from your sins.

When you do that, something happens in eternity. Your sins, the very sin that separated you from God, is washed away and forgiven. It is removed from your account and put to Christ’s account, which He paid for at the Cross. Remember - the penalty of sin is death. Your death. Jesus died in your place and paid for your sins that you may be set free of them, free of the guilt and the shame!

And that is IT! Salvation from God is a free gift to you which you need only receive. Jesus did all the work for you on the Cross! The Bible says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

You are now saved and redeemed by Christ. You are now identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. Since Jesus died in my place, I like to picture my salvation as me looking at the Cross and saying Lord, when you died there, the old sinful me died with you. When you were buried, the old sinful me was buried with you. But when you rose from the dead in the resurrection, the new me was raised to new life IN you.

Salvation comes only by faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross in taking our sins. And that faith in Christ for our salvation must be kept for the rest of our lives as we walk with Christ.

This word faith doesn’t mean just an intellectual belief in Christ. It is not of the mind, but of the heart. It believes fully, that what Jesus did on the Cross paid for your sins and that you now have a new life in Him. The Bible says this

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10)

After you do this, you are now saved! Instantly! You belong to God! But it gets better. Not only did God take all your sins put them to Christ’s account, washing them all away with His blood, but at the moment you are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you. God places His very own Spirit in you. The Bible says:

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)

The very Spirit of God now lives inside you. This is known as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As you are now considered righteous and good in the eyes of God because of what Christ did for you on the Cross (not because of your good works), the Holy Spirit can now live inside of you.

Secondly, you must confess your sins to God and ask forgiveness,

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Thirdly, you must repent of your sins. To repent from sin means to regret your sin, ask forgiveness, and turn away from them. It is having a change of heart about those sins, turning from them. Repentance is a turning away from sin, a change of heart, a change in the way you think about sin. You must be willing in your heart to turn away from habitual sin and not continue in the lifestyle of sin you were in before you received Jesus as Lord and Savior. As you walk with Christ, the Holy Spirit will convict you of any sin in your life. You must then be willing to turn away from that sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit you will be empowered to get victory over that sin and forsake it.

Receiving Christ’s death on the cross as full payment for your sins, receiving the gift of eternal life, confession, forgiveness, and repentance are all part of the salvation process.

I’d like to address this question to those of you who consider yourself Christian. Each time I teach on salvation this verse pops into my head where Jesus said:

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

Imagine standing before the Lord, having thought that you know Him while you were on earth and are of Him, looking forward to heaven only to have the Lord say to you I never knew you; depart from me… It’s a frightening thought, isn’t it? I began to wonder how this can be. How